The document discusses how the author is not a coach and should not be viewed as one due to his poor listening, lack of focus, and inability to pay attention. He provides several "fasting plans" as examples of things he would not recommend, emphasizing that he lacks the skills and attention span to properly teach nutrition plans. In the end, he acknowledges that while he has personal experiences, other coaches could better help people achieve their goals.

1. I’M NOT A
COACH
BY TOM SEEST

2. I'M NOT A COACH
I've concluded that I'm probably a horrible coach. I'm
not sure why. I've never really thought about it much,
but I am a terrible student. While I've spent my life
learning from experiences, I've always been a poor
student for my teachers. Some have told me that I'm a
terrible listener, but I wasn't paying attention. And,
those are two different things. I was a terrible listener
for years, because I could hear next to nothing, and it
is easy to ignore every word when you can't hear
anything. But the real problem is I never pay attention.
I never focus.

3. THE LIFEBOAT
DRILL
Back in the good old days when we
could cruise on cruise ships, we used to
attend a mandatory lifeboat drill. Each
cruise line had different names for the
"lifeboat drill," but the entire purpose
was to inform people what to do if
something went wrong while at sea. At
the end or during the lifeboat drill, my
buddy Tom or I would raise our hand
and ask, "Do we get off the ship before
it stops or after?" The crew would roll
their eyes from the starboard side to
the port side of the ship. Over time, as
we attended more and more "sinking
boat drills," we paid less attention. I
was fortunate that in my over 360 days
of sailing on cruise ships, I never
needed to know anything they taught
during the drills.

4. NO HOPE
See, in my early days of sailing, I knew that there was little
hope that I could make it to the lifeboats if an emergency
happened. I couldn't climb stairs, and I knew that using
elevators during power outages is a bad thing. I also had
difficulty going downstairs. So, in my mind, if the ship was
going to go down, I was either gonna float to shore 'cause I was
buoyant, or I was gonna sink to the bottom with the ship. I still
remember my first cruise in 2008 when I could actually climb
from the bottom deck to the top deck of the ship. The photos
below were taken by a son, while on that ship. I cruised for five
years before I knew I could climb from the bottom deck to the
top deck of a ship. I assessed and took risks.

5. I STARTED SIMPLE
When I finally realized that I was
overweight, I decided to lose weight by
starting simple. For me, it was easy to
give up sugar at the time. So, I ate a
low carb diet; I eliminated
carbohydrates. I also started walking
just a little bit each day. Eventually, I
could walk to the mailbox 1/10th of a
mile away. And then I added more
mailboxes. Eventually, I started bicycle
riding. I started riding with a 3 mile ride
and then added more miles. I took
simple steps.

6. EAT – STOP EATING
I was introduced to the concept of fasting back when I was a kid in Sunday school. My teacher
read me the story of Jesus fasting in the desert for forty days. So, I knew what fasting was. And, I
spent time with my buddy Tom who had completed two twenty-one-day fasts. So, I knew people
were capable of going long periods of time without food. Based on this knowledge, I developed
what I called my simple fasting plan:
1. Eat.
2. Stop eating.
3. Return to eating when hungry.

7. THE "TEN-
SECOND
FASTING PLAN"
I used to joke with my children
that I had been fasting all my
life and that I knew how to do it
from an early age. I would refer
to this as the ten-second fasting
plan, and my children fasted
this way. The ten-second fasting
plan looks something like this:
1. Take a bite and do not chew.
2. Swallow and don't rest.
3. Start at step one, and
continue until you feel sick.

8. THE "CALORIE COUNTER’S FASTING PLAN"
I spent well over three and a half years counting calories that I ate and the calories that I burned. This is
commonly referred to as "calories in, calories out." Many people swear that calories in, calories out is the
only way people lose weight and that you have to maintain an energy deficit to lose weight. I was good
with accounting, budgeting, and monitoring, and I was good at math, but I was NOT GOOD at losing
weight while maintaining an energy deficit. But, for those that like to fast while counting calories, this is
your plan:
1. Carefully measure each bite of food you put in your mouth, and calculate its calorie and macro count.
2. Log the food in an app like MyFitnessPal, and be as accurate as possible.
3. Swallow and rest for thirty seconds.
4. Carefully count each glass of water and any electrolyte drink you consume when thirsty.
5. Start at step one again when hungry, and you will be hungry.

9. THE "HIGH-CARB, LOW-FAT FASTING PLAN"
Most people that I know personally fast when they eat low-carb, high-fat diets, but I have known
people that also fast while maintaining high-carb, low-fat eating patterns. It can be done. I've
done it both ways, and either method may work for you. As we've discussed, I'm not a coach, so I
won't tell you what to do. But, here is my "High-Carb, Low-Fat Fasting Plan":
1. Take a bite of a high-carb, low-fat food.
2. Chew, enjoy, and then swallow.
3. While chewing, think about the people that consume too much fat, as they will all die shortly.
4. Return to step one when hungry, which will probably be pretty soon.

10. THE "LOW-CARB, HIGH-FAT FASTING PLAN"
This method is my favorite form of fasting. I found that if I ate plenty of protein and plenty of fat, I was
never hungry. Some would say that this was because I was in ketosis. Others would say that this was
because I was not eating carbohydrates. Even others would say that my body had adapted to burning
the fat that I had been storing for years. Others would claim that I was eating lots of protein, and protein
keeps me from being hungry. The bottom line is, I don't know why it worked for me. But, here is my
low-carb high-fat fasting plan:
1. Eat a mixture of foods that meet your daily nutritional goals.
2. Stop eating, live life, be distracted, and rest as needed.
3. Offer thoughts and prayers for the people that consume too many carbs as they will all die in short
order.
4. Drink a mixture of water, electrolytes like salt, and possibly even broth, when thirsty.
5. When you feel hungry again, and this may take days, or feel bad in any way, start again at step one.

11. AND NOW YOU KNOW
Much of this prose is written with a sense of sarcasm
and humor, and part of it was meant to be taken
seriously. But I think we can all agree, that I don't have
the detailed mind, the skills, or the attention span to
teach and coach you through any nutrition or fasting
plan. I’m too needy. I have my own experiences, which
are valuable and prove that goals are attainable. I've
saved my life with my experiences, but they may not
apply to you.

12. BUT I KNOW
PEOPLE
It's not what you know but
who you know. And in my
case, I know I'm not a coach.
I know many coaches that can
help you reach nutrition,
exercise, and weight loss
goals. And I'll be happy to
introduce you to some of them
if you want help. I know many
coaches. And I'm here to help.